Who was born 100 years ago, wrote a best-selling book with only 223 words in it, and inspired a Broadway musical? And, not incidentally, has encouraged huge numbers of children to learn to read through his whimsical rhymes and quirky characters?
Theodor Seuss Geisel is who. Dr Seuss to you.
The musical? Seussical the Musical (co-conceived by Lynn Ahrens, Stephen Flaherty and Eric Idle) opened on Broadway in November 2000, ran there for more than 5 months and has been touring since then. As Graham Bauerle, one-time teacher and long-time President of Phoenix Players explained, Seussical is admirably suited to local communities where the whole family can participate. That's why he and his dedicated committee jumped at the opportunity when the performing rights became available in Australia in 2004.
Two Victorian schools got in first, but this is the first general public performance in Australia, opening January 14 for a 15 show run.
Phoenix Players has grown over its 15 year history into a community theatre group with a sense of purpose. Its first aim is to give young people a place to learn through experience - the only way - about theatre production. Its second purpose is to give families a community to belong to. Since its beginnings in Belconnen Community Centre, Phoenix has moved its performances to The Street Theatre and Theatre 3, finding these theatres give the Players the quality of experience they need, as well as expanding their membership and audience.
And their expenses. Seussical's budget is more than $30,000. But passion for this particular musical carries the day with Bauerle and his director Belinda Anyos, well known as BJ, who doubles - now triples - as the Fairy Who Can't Fly and an Excited Particle at Questacon. In fact she quadruples as a trainee primary teacher at UC, which is where her interest in children's learning to read comes in.
Anyos explains the many layers of Seussical (maybe like a club sandwich of Green Eggs and Ham). All the 47 young cast members have studied all the Dr Seuss books as their essential reading research, learning not only about their characters but also about the importance of learning to read. They also learn a sense of humour while having fun. So Phoenix show their members the bond between reading and acting out.
For the audience, the very young will see Seuss's characters appear from his books which form the set, narrated by the dynamic Arron Grainger as The Cat in the Hat. But at another level, the story takes place in the imagination of a young boy, JoJo, as he reads about the Grinch, the Whos, the Sour Kangaroo, Gertrude Fuzz and many others. The central books are Horton Hears a Who and Horton Hatches the Egg, while for the older audience, for whom Seuss may seem old hat, there is the fun of identifying the references to all 15 books.
The music, singing and dancing carry the show along smartly and smoothly. No dead scene changes, and very little spoken dialogue, makes Seussical into a rollicking light opera drawing on pop, gospel, blues and R&B musical styles.
There is a special excitement because this is a new show, where everyone from the director to the costume sewer has worked without preconceptions. This makes creative juices flow, rather than being limited as amateur groups often are by the expectation to imitate famous stage or film productions. Creating productions from literary sources is now a new theme for Phoenix Players, with a non-audition workshop for children 9-16 in first semester this year leading to a production in July of Roald Dahl's The Witches, which BJ will also direct.
Apart from Spot the Story (I have suggested there should be a prize for the first to find all 15), there is also a raffle, first prize a giant Cat in the Hat with Seuss books, and other book prizes. And for parents with a real concern about the current debate about children learning to read via phonics or whole word methods, go to see Seussical the Musical to see how Theodor Seuss Geisel put the two together. His rhymes give children the phonics, his visuals and use of repetition give the whole words, while his off-beat humour appeals even to the very young as well as the young-at-heart. Just add music and dance, imaginative costumes and all the theatrical effects at Theatre 3 to bring it all to life.
Seussical the Musical
By arrangement: Hal Leonard Australia for Music Theatre International (NY)
Phoenix Players at Theatre 3
January 14 - 29
Matinee, Twilight and Evening performances
Bookings: Theatre 3 on 6257 1950
© Frank McKone, Canberra
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